Applying for a residence permit to attend language courses or take part in a school exchange programme
Service description
If you are a national of a country that is not a member of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need a residence permit to take part in a German language course or a school exchange programme.
The German course must be an intensive language course designed to enable students to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the German language, rather than to prepare them for university studies.
The intensive language course must be of limited duration. Attending the course and carrying out the follow-up work should take up all your working hours. As a rule, this means you will have lessons from Monday to Friday, totalling at least 18 teaching hours per week. Evening, weekend or part-time language courses are not sufficient.
In a school exchange, you take part in a temporary school placement, which generally does not exceed one year in duration and is often organised through school exchange organisations. You can also choose a privately or commercially organised exchange year. A reciprocal exchange is not required in order to obtain a residence permit. This means that a return visit by a host pupil to your country is not necessary.
During the language course and the school exchange, you must be able to cover your living expenses and health insurance without having to rely on state benefits. As a guideline, the current rate under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) applies to student exchanges, and for language courses, the BAföG rate plus 10 per cent applies.
You may take on work for up to 20 hours per week whilst attending a language course. A student exchange programme does not entitle you to take on work.
If you are under 18 at the time of the student exchange, your parents or legal guardians must give their consent to your stay in Germany.
The proceedings are usually conducted in German.
Who should I contact?
Immigration office
What fees are incurred?
Fee: €100.00Advance payment: NoUnder certain conditions, you will receive a fee reduction or fee exemption.Fee: €50.00Advance payment: Nohttps://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthv/__50.htmlThis fee applies if you are a minor.What deadlines do I have to observe?
The duration of your residence permit will be determined by the purpose of your stay; for a school exchange, it is usually one year, whilst for language courses, the duration of the language course determines the validity period of the residence permit.
You should apply for your residence permit no later than 8 weeks before your current visa expires.
Application deadline: 8 weeks
Objection period: 1 month
Legal basis
Legal remedy
- Appeal against the decision of the Immigration Authority
- Action before the court named in the notice of objection if the objection is not upheld
What else should I know?
- The granting of a residence permit is at the discretion of the relevant immigration authority. As the applicant, you are therefore only entitled to a decision that is free from any error of discretion.
- During a stay to attend a language course, there are no restrictions on changing the purpose of your stay.
- Upon completion of language courses required for taking up employment or a training programme, the relevant residence permit may be granted without the need to leave the country first.
- Following participation in a school exchange programme, a residence permit for a different purpose may only be granted if there is a statutory entitlement to it.
Author
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- Applying for a residence permit to attend language courses or take part in a school exchange programme in Saxony-Anhalt